Long Winding Road
by Kuma the wolf alchemist
Summary: Updated: Chapters 10&11. She had made the choice to go back. It took her two years to find him but many things have changed. Now she must find a new purpose in Amestris. She'll protect and heal the ones around her but will she ever be with him again? Ed/OC & Al/OC after FMA:BH; sequel to Not a Normal Girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC & AlxOC**

Welcome to the sequel to Not a Normal Girl. If you haven't read that yet well...you could either continue here or you could go read it. It's up to you but you probably will be confused if you haven't read Not a Normal Girl. Helping me with this sequel is xxTemarixx so she does get credit too! Just for fair warning I sometimes tend to switch P.O.V's but you'll know who it is by the way they react/by who is talking to them. Well any who, ENJOY!

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

[Two Years Later]

[Mikayla POV]

I walked through Central towards the military command. I was planning on going straight to Central when I had gotten into Amestris, but I ended up getting side-tracked along the way. I helped so many people and learned so much about medical alchemy. I missed Ed but the people I needed to heal came first.

"I would like to see Fuhrer Olivier Armstrong." I said to the secretary.

"And you are?" She asked.

"Mikayla Mitchell." I replied, "If you tell her my name she should recognize me."

The secretary called Olivier and a few minutes later she led me up to the Fuhrer's office.

"Come in." Olivier called after I knocked.

"Fuhrer." I greeted with a grin.

"Mikayla? You really have grown." She said, gracing me with a small smile, "How long have you been back?"

"Two years." I replied, taking a seat on the opposite side of her desk.

"Why did you come back? What, your family not there?"

I gave her a blank look, "Family?"

"Yes, your mom and-" She stopped and sighed, "Your toll."

I nodded, "My toll was I would give up all memory of my family. I do remember having a family - a mother, a father, and a brother - but not their names or what they look like."

"I see… what do you plan on doing now?"

"Well, I originally was going to go find Ed and Reena but I got sidetracked helping people. I healed so many and was able to get so many people back on their feet." I grinned, "I felt amazing and sometimes I had to stay two months to help a single town."

"You sound like you're enjoying yourself." She commented.

"I am, I really am."

There was a pleasant silence between us for a moment before Olivier asked, "Did you ever think about becoming a state alchemist?"

"I did actually; I just never got around to coming here and telling you. I-"

A knock on the door interrupted us.

"Come in!" Olivier called.

"You needed to see me Fuhrer?"

I grinned at the shocked look on Roy's face.

"Yes Mustang, look who decided to come in for a visit."

"M-Mikayla?"

I got up and walked over to Roy, "Nice to see you too Mustang. I see you got your sight back."

Roy smiled, "Yeah, I did. Have you gone to see Fullmetal yet?"

I sighed, "I've been here for two years and I still haven't seen him yet. I've been around helping people and healing their sicknesses."

"For two years?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised." I said, "Do you know where Ed is? I actually would like to see him."

"Yeah, he's in Risembool right now. I think Al headed that way too a few days ago."

"Thanks Mustang."

I looked towards Olivier, "Anything else we need or should talk about?"

She shook her head, "No, you can go on. I'll contact you if I need to."

"Okay, bye Fuhrer, Mustang."

I saluted them and then made my way out of Central Command. I went to the train station and found I was right on time for a train to Resembool.

_I can't wait to see Ed. _I thought, pulling a book out of my bag.

* * *

[Reena's POV]

I had listened to Winry confess to Ed a few weeks ago and even to this very day I was angry about it.

_She'll come back and he'll see how stupid he was for accepting. How could he? I know he still loves Mikayla and he's just trying to get over her by going out with Winry._

He had given up on her coming back but I hadn't.

I felt Den nudge me with his nose so I got up and walked to see if it was a customer. Not many customers came by around this time (early evening) so it must be important. When I opened the front door I stopped in my tracks.

"Mikayla?" A grin spread across her face and I sprinted down the dirt path towards her. "Kayla!"

I jumped into her outstretched arms and cried, "You're back!"

"Why wouldn't I be back silly? Sorry it took so long." She said, putting me on the ground, "Geez, you've grown a lot. How old are you now?"

"Ten!" I grinned.

I took her hand and dragged her inside.

"Ed! Al! Winry! She's back!"

The house was still for a moment before several pairs of feet came barreling down the stairs. Winry looked mortified that Mikayla was back.

"I thought you died." She whispered.

Mikayla shrugged, "As you can see I'm alive and well."

I looked at Ed whose golden eyes were wide and staring at her. I let go of Mikayla's hand and went to nudge Ed, "What are you doing?

I thought Ed would rush and scoop Mikayla up into his arms and never let her go but instead he walked away and out of the house.

"Ed!" Mikayla shouted, chasing after him.

I looked at Al who looked down at the ground.

"Al, what do we do?" I asked.

"We let them work it out." He replied softly.

* * *

[Mikayla's POV]

I stood out in the lawn with Ed - his back turned towards me.

"Ed." I called softly, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder.

He turned to me with golden eyes filled with tears, "I never thought you'd come back."

The next thing I knew I was in his arms. This was the feeling I had missed for two long years. The embrace was over too soon because he held me at arm's length - his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm sorry," He whispered.

"For what?"

"I didn't wait long enough."

I didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"Ed!" Winry called from the house.

And then I did.

"Y-You…" I stuttered, "Didn't wait for me?"

"I'm sorry."

I stepped away from him so he was no longer touching me. I should have known this was going to happen. How could I be so stupid as to think he would wait? If you count the time I was in my old world then I would have been gone for almost two and a half years.

"Ed, dinners done." Winry said, approaching us, "Would you like to join us for dinner Mikayla?"

Ed might not see it but the smile on Winry's face was mocking. As if to say, "Look who I have and you don't."

Or maybe I was just imagining it because of my anger and jealousy.

"Yeah Kayla, please?" Al asked, coming down to us. His smile said, "Please don't fight."

So for Al's (and probably Reena's too) sake, I stayed and ate dinner. Pinako made an amazing stew and even though it had milk in it Ed didn't complain.

"How long will you be staying, Mikayla?" Pinako asked.

"Not long, I've decided to take the state alchemist exam." I replied, "I was thinking of taking the late train back to Central."

"Nonsense, just stay here! You can share a room with Reena and Winry."

I had to make myself stop from cringing, "S-sure."

About two hours later I was the first to go to bed. I lied down on the cot that Pinako had put out for me and stared at the ceiling.

"You're going to become a state alchemist?"

I turned my head to the doorway to see Ed standing there in a t-shirt and shorts.

"Yes."

"Are you sure-"

"I'm sure Ed." I interrupted. "You don't need to worry about me anymore. I'm strong - stronger then I was when I was here the first time. I no longer need protection."

"Don't say that," He muttered, "I'll always protect you even if you don't really need it."

I turned so my back was facing him. I wanted to hug him again but I knew it wasn't my place to. I heard him walk away but I knew when he came back into the room by the way his metal foot hit the ground.

"Here."

I turned and saw a notebook in his hands, "What's this?"

"Some of my notes," he replied. "It could help you on the test. Please, take it."

I sighed and took the notebook, a shiver going up my arm when our fingers brushed.

"Good night." He murmured.

He bent down slightly as if he was going to kiss my forehead but stopped. He quickly turned on his heels and walked out the room. I felt pathetic when I placed the notebook under my pillow and kept my hand on it as I slept. It was the only thing I had that was his.

That morning I woke up early and did my morning ritual. Dressed in my usual black sweat pants and black camisole that stopped just before my belly button, I walked downstairs to get a quick breakfast.

"I made pancakes." Pinako smiled, placing it in front of me.

"Thank you."

While I was eating Reena came down with my old red backpack.

"When are you leaving?" She asked.

I finished up my milk before answering, "Right after I brush my teeth."

"Can I come with you? I haven't spent time with you in so long!"

I grinned, "Sure."

I quickly went upstairs to brush my teeth and comb out my hair before going back downstairs.

"Is that my bow?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Reena reached up to finger the bow in her hair, "Yeah, you don't mind do you?"

"No, you can keep it."

I pulled my duffle bag around my shoulder and bid Pinako goodbye.

"Mikayla!"

I turned back towards the house and saw Al standing on the balcony.

"You're leaving already?" He asked.

"Yeah, sorry Al!" I called up to him, "If you're still here in a few days I'll call you!"

"Okay, bye Kayla!"

Reena and I got on the train that would take us back to Central.

"What was it like to be back in your world? Did you see your family?" Reena asked.

"Being back in my world was hell. I felt agitated and I could never sit still very long." I replied, "And my family? Well… that was my toll to come back."

Reena blinked, "Your… toll?"

"My toll was that I would forget my family. I know I had one, I just don't remember anything about them." I said.

"Oh," she muttered sadly.

I took out the notebook Ed had gave me and sighed, _Might as well read this on my way there._

* * *

Author's Corner:

~Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC &AlxOC**

* * *

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

[Mikayla]

We arrived in Central mid-afternoon and checked into a hotel.

"I'm hungry." Reena complained.

"Can it wait till after I go check when the next exam will be held?"

"No~!"

Sighing, I took her to a nearby café and we got sandwiches.

"You're a real brat, you know that?" I grumbled.

"But you love me!"

I scoffed, "I never said I loved you."

"But deep, deep down you do!"

I paid for our food and we started walking to Central Military Command.

"Excuse me," I said to the secretary, "Can you tell me when the next state alchemist exam will be?"

The secretary checked through her papers before answering, "Next month on the 6th."

_Seriously?_

"Oh… okay, thank you."

"What are we going to do for a whole month?" Reena asked as we walked outside.

I slumped onto a bench, "Don't know."

"We could go back to Risembool!"

I knew what the little devil was planning and it wasn't happening. "No, Ed made his choice."

"But-"

"Drop it Reena!" I didn't mean to snap at her but thinking of Ed ticked me off and made me want to cry. We sat in silence for at least ten minutes before the guilt began to eat away me. "Sorry Reena."

"It's okay."

"Well," I stood up, "Let's go."

"Go where?" She asked, jogging after me.

"We're going to go to South City and visit a friend of mine. We have time, so why not?"

"But we just got here." She whined with a pout.

"I should have left you in Risembool." I muttered.

"When I traveled with Ed he always said he should have left me with Al!"

I opened our hotel room door, "Because your constant whining gets to us. Al has more patience than me and Ed combined."

Instead of being offended like any other regular ten year-old, she simply grinned, "But you love me anyway!"

"Yes, very deep down in my heart, I love you." I said, gathering what few things I had. "Let's get going."

I checked us out of the hotel and we went to the train station to look at the schedules.

* * *

[Al]

"Hey, Al."

I looked up from the book I was reading to look at my older brother, "Yeah brother?"

"Where did Mikayla and Reena go?"

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Mikayla and extremely bitter towards my brother. She came back for him and she got nothing in return. I loved Winry like a sister but I also felt that way towards Mikayla. I knew brother didn't love Winry. It was wrong to mess with Winry's feelings when Mikayla was back now and he could be with her again.

"They left for Central this morning." I replied, trying to keep my voice light.

"Oh." He muttered.

Glancing out the window to make sure Winry wasn't coming back home, I asked him, "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You love Mikayla but you're still with Winry. Don't play with their feelings Ed or it's going to come back and bite you in the butt."

"Al it's-"

"Not that complicated, brother." I interrupted, "You just need to make your mind up before it's too late."

I could see an inner battle being fought inside Ed's mind. I hoped he'd follow his heart and go back to Mikayla so he can stop torturing himself and Winry.

* * *

[Mikayla]

When Reena and I arrived in South City it was almost midnight. I walked into a neighborhood that sat by the edge of town and turned down a few streets until I came to the house I needed. After knocking a few times, a tired teenage boy came to the door. His black hair was spiked up all over his head and his rattail hung slightly over his shoulder. His green eyes looked at me annoyed.

"Hey Zack!" I grinned.

Slam!

"ZACKARY OPEN THE FREAKIN' DOOR OR I WILL BREAK IT DOWN AND YOU KNOW GOOD AND WELL I CAN!"

The door automatically opened.

"Hey Kaylaaa~" He yawned, "Come on in."

I walked into the messy ranch style house with Reena not far behind me.

"You never told me you had a kid."

"Does she seriously like she's mine?" I asked, "Plus she's ten. That means I would have had to have her when I was… six?"

Reena and I looked at each other and shrugged, not seeing the resemblance.

"Well, I don't know what that boyfriend of yours looks like. What's his name… Ed?" Zack said, "And your math is wrong, you would have been eight. Your eighteen now aren't you?"

I cringed, "Well, Ed doesn't have black hair… and yes I'm eighteen… please don't mention Ed anymore."

Zack raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Just don't." I muttered, "Can I crash here for a little while. I did heal you after all."

Zack shrugged, "Yeah sure, follow me."

He showed Reena her room and then mine which was right next to hers.

"I want to talk to you after you put the kid to sleep." He muttered in my ear.

I sighed and nodded. After I knew Reena was asleep, I walked back into the living room and sat next to him on the couch.

"So what happened? You always told me how excited you were to see him. You couldn't see him because you were always helping people around here, right?" Zack said.

I unwillingly explained to him what had happened and I was surprised to see an irritated, almost angry look on his face. I hadn't told him exactly why I had to leave Ed except that I went on a long trip.

"Jerk." He grumbled.

I shrugged, "I'm over it."

"You are such a bad liar." He chuckled.

I stood up, "I'm going to bed. Thanks again Zack."

The next morning I heard two annoying voices yelling at each other. With a groan, I wrapped my blanket around me and walked to the living room.

"Why are you guys shouting at 11:00 in the morning?" I asked.

"Make her/him shut up!" They both shouted.

Maybe coming to Zack's house was a bad idea.

[A Few Days Later]

I was extremely bored. A bored Mikayla is a very dangerous Mikayla.

"Kayla…what are you doing?"

"What the heck does it look like I'm doing? I'm making a fort!"

Zack sighed as I pulled more blankets out of his closet.

"I'd expect that from that kid." Zack muttered.

"She's helping me." I said, pointing over to Reena who was dragging a chair out of the kitchen.

"Why did I let you two into my house again?"

"It's because you love me, Zack!" I grinned, throwing the blankets over the chairs.

[One Month Later]

The past couple weeks were rather uneventful (expect when we built our fort; that was fun). I kept in contact with Al whenever he called (I gave him the number before he left Risembool), and he would tell me about all his adventures he was currently on while in Xing.

"Kayla, what would you say if I told you Ed broke up with Winry?" He had asked me during one of our phone calls.

I felt a chill go through me at the very mention of Ed's name. I hated that he still had that effect on me. "I would say good for him."

It was June 5th and Reena and I were headed towards the train station so we could head to Central.

"Good luck." Zack grinned.

"Thanks bro." I smiled.

Zack gave me a quick hug before I boarded the train.

"Wouldn't it be great if we saw 'he-who-shall-not-be-named' when we got to Central?" Reena asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "Voldemort?"

She gave me a confused look, "No, Ed! Who's Voldemort?"

"I would rather see Voldemort then Ed." I muttered.

We arrived in Central that afternoon and checked into a hotel.

"Are we actually staying in the hotel?" Reena asked.

"Yep," I replied.

For the rest of the day I stayed in the library. I looked at numerous books on alchemy and tried to remember bits and pieces from the books.

"Just use this," Reena said, placing Ed's notebook in front of me.

"I already did," I said tonelessly.

"You didn't read the whole thing. This could be your key to passing," she said, shoving it closer to me.

"Fine."

I hated to admit it but Ed's notes were probably my key to passing because he takes amazing notes. Now if only his hand writing was a tad bit more legible.

The next day I felt anxious yet ready for the test to start.

"Good luck, Kayla." Reena grinned, giving me a hug.

I hugged her back, "Thanks."

I walked into the testing room and the hall was full of mostly guys.

"They let Ishballens take the test now?" One of the girls asked.

I sighed at the common mistake. "I'm not Ishballen."

My eyes were brown **not **red. There was a distinct difference.

The written part of the exam started and I felt like I was taking the ACT exam… except ten times harder.

"Ugh." I groaned, walking out of the building.

"How did it go, Kayla?" Reena asked.

"I didn't finish the freakin' test and I only got halfway and my brain feels like mush." I replied, "But hopefully since Mustang was there he'll be able to tweak my test a little so I'll pass."

"Think he'll actually do that?"

"Yeah, when hell freezes over."

The next day I went back to Central Command and found out that I passed. Next was the interview. I walked into a dimly lit room where Olivier sat at a table with a few other officers next to her, including Roy. In the middle of the room was a golden chair with three legs.

"Sit. If you have the power needed to become a state alchemist then you will not fall." Olivier said harshly.

She definitely wasn't going to play favorites. I approached the chair and cautiously sat down on it - it didn't fall.

_Thank you God! _I silently praised.

"Why do you want to become a state alchemist?" Olivier asked.

"So I can help people all around Amestris and protect the ones I love." I replied, using my best 'Riza Voice'.

(Yes, I dubbed my 'serious voice' my 'Riza Voice')

Olivier graced me with a smirked, "Thank you, you pass to the next round."

With a grin, I proceeded to the Practical Skills Test. Only one of the girls I had taken the written exam with made it this far.

_I can do this. _I thought.

When the test started I was the first one to walk onto the arena. First, I clapped my hands and placed them on the ground - transmuting twin katanas that looked like a pair I had seen in a movie. A design was formed onto the blade making them look pretty but deadly.

"Did she just do alchemy without a circle?" I heard someone asked from the side.

I smirked - feeling my ego rise. _Let's do this._

I started running along the field while dragging the tips of my swords against the ground. I sent alchemic waves through them and the ground started to jet upwards - creating spikes and walls. When I was done I walked out of the arena feeling proud of myself.

"You also signed up to show us some of your medical alchemy?" An official asked, coming up to me.

He led me to a room inside the command center and I showed them what I could do. I healed an injured dog and took a brief written exam.

"How do you think you did?" Reena asked as I walked to her.

"Dunno, I have to go in tomorrow to find out." I replied.

The next morning, I walked into Roy's office trying to keep calm.

"Well if it isn't little Mikayla; hard to believe you'll be a state alchemist now." Roy smirked, "It seems like only yesterday you were just a lost kid in this world."

"You mean I made it?" I grinned.

He tossed me my silver pocket watch in response.

"You are the Silver Katana Alchemist." He said, showing me the paper work.

I glanced at my sheathed swords that were clipped onto my belt, "Silver Katana, eh? I could get use to that."

* * *

Author's Corner:

~Hehe did you like the Harry Potter reference? XD

~Next chap you get to meet a new main character YAY!


	3. Chapter 3

**Long Winding Road**

**EdXOC &AlXOC**

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

[Mikayla]

"A mission?"

"You should know how missions are run since you've been all over the country with Ed." Roy said, handing me a packet with all the information I would need.

I glanced over the papers and saw that I needed to go to various towns like Rush Valley, North City, and East City to train some of their medical staff.

"There are also other alchemists that specialize in medicine going to different towns to train hospital staff so you won't have to do too much running around." Roy said.

"Alright then, when do I leave?"

"In two hours." He replied.

After being dismissed, I walked out of Central Command and met Reena in the hotel.

"A mission? Cool!" Reena shouted, packing her things. "Where are we going?"

"To some towns to go train medical alchemists; shouldn't be too hard." I replied, packing things in my duffle bag.

After waiting for a while, we headed out of the hotel and to the train station.

"HELP!"

I looked over to see a building starting to collapse.

"The hell?" I shouted, clapping my hands as I ran over.

I stopped short when I saw a girl run out from nowhere and stop the building from falling with her own alchemy - without a circle. The girl looked around sixteen years old with shoulder length black hair. She wore a black skirt and a red jacket that had the fire alchemy emblem on the back.

"Another fire alchemist? I thought Roy was the only one," I muttered.

"Mikayla come on, we're going to miss the train! That girl has it under control!" Reena shouted, tugging on my hand.

We jogged to the train station and got to the train just in time.

_That was weird. That girl did alchemy without a circle, which would mean she's seen the Gate. _I thought. _And she has the fire symbol on her jacket, which would make her a fire alchemist._ I rested my head on the window and watched the world go by. _Guess I'll talk to Mustang later._

When I arrived in Rush Valley, I headed towards the hospital and checked in with the front desk.

"My name is Mikayla Mitchell, the Silver Katana Alchemist. Central Command sent me over to train staff members." I said.

"Oh yes come this way." The nurse smiled, ushering me down the hall.

She led me to a room where ten men, ranging from the ages nineteen to forty five, sat at long tables.

"This is your teacher Mikayla. She is a state certified medical alchemist and she will teach you how to help here at the hospital and pass your exam." The nurse said. She then showed her way out and left me with them.

"Um, alright." I started awkwardly, "Tell me your names."

After telling me their names, I decided to write some questions on the white board for them to answer.

"Can anyone come up and draw the circle you would use to heal a basic cut?" I asked, "Steven."

The youngest – Steven - walked up and drew the circle. It was a nicely draw circle except it was the wrong one.

"Steven, that's the wrong one." I pointed out, "This is what is."

I drew the correct circle on the board and he went to draw it on a piece of paper.

"I thought all of them were the same." He said.

_Oh gosh, I have a lot of work to do…_

[A few weeks later]

It had taken me about half a month to get through all the towns but finally I was going back to Central to give my report.

"Thank God that was the last town! Those guys knew nothing!" I said, collapsing on the train.

"After hearing you explain something fifteen times I think I could perform medical alchemy with ease." Reena muttered, sitting across from me.

When we arrived in Central, I went to the command center to report to Roy.

"Very good, the hospitals called me and said you did a good job teaching them." Roy said, looking through my report.

"Thank you," I grinned.

"Well, you're dismissed-"

"Wait, I wanted to ask you something." I interrupted, "Do you have a daughter?"

He gave me an odd look, "Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Well before I left a girl stopped a building from collapsing. She had black hair and the back of her jacket had the fire alchemy symbol on it," I explained.

"Well I don't know anything about another flame alchemist nor do I have a daughter. Is that all Silver Katana?" He asked.

"That's all," I replied, walking out of the room.

* * *

[Roy's POV]

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair as I headed towards my apartment. The moon was out and the streetlamps were on; I bet it was close to ten. Work had been brutal today, and my thoughts drifted to Mikayla's words from earlier. Another flame alchemist? I didn't know how anyone would know Flame Alchemy without a teacher, and Master Hawkeye was the only one I knew of.

Barely anyone was out, maybe a few drunks or late night workers, but I stopped when I saw a young girl walking across the street, heading the opposite direction as me. I normally wouldn't have cared, but the flame symbol caught my eye.

"Excuse miss!" I called, looking for cars before crossing towards her. She stopped and looked at me, eyes wide. I examined her - black hair, red jacket, blue eyes - and knew I had found the girl Mikayla described to me earlier.

"Roy Mustang?" She asked, blinking. "Flame Alchemist?"

I narrowed my eyes. How did she know my name? Well, I _was_ pretty famous. "Yes, and you might be?"

The girl stuck out her gloved hand. "I'm Nami Clark," she grinned. "And I'm quite a fan of you, Mr. Flame Alchemist."

"Oh really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I was actually looking for you," she said. "I have a request."

"If it's training you in fire alchemy, no." I answered. I didn't know if that was the question, but by the disappointment in her eyes, I had guessed correctly.

"And why is that?" Nami - if I remembered her name correctly - asked.

"Because fire alchemy is dangerous, and bad things happen if it falls into the wrong hands," I replied sharply.

I had to get her to leave before she came up with some smart answer to try to get me to teach her. "Now if you'll excuse me."

I turned and made my way down the street, yet unable to not take one last glance behind me. The girl stood there, her fist shaking softly and her head down. Why did she even want to be a flame alchemist? I mean, of all alchemies, why that one?

I shrugged as I entered my apartment and set my stuff down. No need to dwell over it, but maybe I would mention it to Mikayla later.

* * *

[Unknown]

I was extremely bored. What did they call themselves again… Blade Children?

"So, you're telling me that you want me to kidnap this girl who is a State Alchemist and bring her here so you can kill her?" I asked.

"Yes! Michelle, I know you would get the job done right!" Dr. Jethro - the 'father' or 'leader' of the Blade Children - grinned widely. "And you would get paid! You would be as famous as your uncle."

I snorted, "And look where that got him! In a grave! Look, I might have taken on his nickname but that doesn't make me a carbon copy of him. When I cause trouble, I cause trouble **my **way."

"But Michelle-"

"Shove off!"

I grabbed my jacket and placed my uncle's old white hat over my chestnut hair.

"Call me when you don't have something stupid to tell me." I sneered, walking out of the hideout.

I trudged out the forest deeply disappointed. I actually thought I would have a good job - start some random shit. Obviously, that plan was a bust.

"Michelle Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist. Named after her uncle who betrayed the state and is expected to betray the state as well." I muttered to myself, "Thank you uncle for leaving me such a title."

* * *

[Mikayla]

My next mission was to go train with some guy named Kane. Roy thought it would be a good idea if I had some formal training in fighting - kind of like how Ed and Al were trained by Izumi.

_For some reason I feel like I know this Kane guy. _I thought, _oh well._

The only downfall about the mission was that it was in Risembool. I would absolutely love it if Al was there but if I saw Ed I didn't know what I'd do - either start crying or simply walk away. I felt a weight land on my lap and saw Reena was fast asleep. The train hadn't even left yet and she was already sleeping. Then again, she didn't get much sleep last night.

"Excuse me."

I looked up and saw the girl from almost a month ago.

"Is this seat taken?" The girl asked, pointing to the seat across from me, "There's no more seats left."

I shook my head and she sat across from me.

"Um, did you by any chance stop a building from collapsing a few weeks ago?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Yeah, I did. I'm guessing you saw that." She answered.

"Yeah, I actually was going to go stop it but you got there before me. Good job, by the way." I said, "I also noticed the symbols on the back of your jacket… are you a flame alchemist?"

The girl looked hesitant to reply but nodded, "Yes… well I want to be. Are you a state alchemist?"

"Yep," I answered, "Are you?"

"No," She replied, "But I wanted to see if Roy Mustang would train me… but unfortunately he said no."

I then had an idea, "Well, I'm going to go train with some guy named Kane in Risembool. Where are you headed?"

"Risembool."

"I heard from Mustang that the guy I'm supposed to train with isn't a 'certified' flame alchemist but he does use fire when he attacks. If I remember correctly it comes from his guns and it's the reason why he's the Silver Bullet Alchemist. Maybe he can help you." I said, "What's your name by the way?"

"Nami Clark, you?"

"Mikayla Mitchell and this little girl sleeping on me is Reena."

Nami and I talked about various things as we rode the train to Risembool. Turns out, she had an auto-mail leg and her mechanic was Winry (which makes sense since she lives in Risembool). She was friendly but I could tell she still had many walls up. I couldn't blame her though; I had many walls up too.

It was around mid-afternoon when we arrived in Risembool and Nami needed to go to Winry's to get her auto-mail tuned.

"I'm going to find Kane's house. See ya later Nami." I said.

"See ya."

We went our separate ways and I started going down one of the dirt paths.

"Do you even know what direction the house is in?" Reena yawned out.

"Shush, I'll find out." I replied, looking at the paper Roy had given me.

"Reena thinks you'll get us lost."

"Mikayla thinks Reena should shut up before she sends Reena to the shadow realm!"

"…What?"

* * *

Author's Corner:

~Nami Clark belongs to xxTemarixx and I would like to thank her for writing Roy's POV for me because it formally introduced her character.

~I WONDER WHO KANE IS! (*hint* Go back to the chapter either right before or the actual chapter where Kaylee dies in Not A Normal Girl *hint*)

~HURRAY FOR YU-GI-OH REFERENCES! (I love referencing other books and animes)


	4. Chapter 4

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC &AlxOC**

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

Nami walked up the steps to a house she was very familiar with.

_Its been a while_, she thought, smiling before knocking on the door.

The door opened and Pinako appeared in the doorway. She blinked in surprise. "Nami? It's been a while! Finally come for a tune up?"

Nami nodded. "Yeah, is Winry around?"

"She is, come in while I get her," Pinako opened the door and Nami stepped inside the house. It was the same as she remembered: same kitchen, same furniture, and same crazy dog.

"Hey boy," Nami bent down and petted Den on the head. He barked happily and nuzzled her leg.

"Winry!" Pinako called up the stairs. "We have a visitor!"

"Coming!" Winry called back.

Winry quickly wiped her tears and tried to calm herself down.

_I should have known this would happen. _She thought, _I knew he still loved her_._.._

She then walked down the stairs to see who the visitor was, "Nami? How are you! AND WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL TO TELL ME YOU WERE COMING!"

"I called and told Pinako," Nami defended, holding her hands up in front of her.

Both girls turned to look at where Pinako was standing but saw no sign of the old lady.

"Guess she forgot to tell you," Nami shrugged. "Anyways, can you fix up my leg?"

Winry nodded and sighed, "Oh well, follow me and let me take a look at your leg."

Winry ushered Nami into the next room and had her sit on one of the benches. She pulled out some of her tools and started examining the auto-mail.

"Well by the looks of it you've been taking care of it." She muttered, "That loose screw could be a problem though."

She pulled out a screwdriver and started fixing the small problems, "So how have you been?"

Nami sighed. "I've been okay, ran into Roy Mustang the other day."

"Oh really?" Winry raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"He completely shut me out when I asked him to train me."

"Aw! I'm sorry!" Winry said, "What are you going to do now? Try and find another teacher?"

Nami shrugged. "I don't know. I heard from a girl named Mikayla there is a flame alchemist here in Risembool."

"Mikayla?" Winry questioned, "She's back?"

She could almost feel her blood start to boil but tried to stay cool.

"Um, yes?" Nami was taken aback by Winry's reaction to Mikayla's name. "You know her?"

"Sadly..." Winry muttered, continuing her work on Nami's auto-mail. "I really don't like her...you remember Ed don't you?"

"Uh, not really," Nami answered truthfully. "But I've heard enough about him with the whole Father disaster. Why?"

"Well, her and Ed use to date but then she left and we thought she died... then two and a half years later she came back. By this time I had confessed to Ed and he accepted my feelings. I thought maybe he had gotten over her but when she came back the look on his face said that he still loved her." Winry explained, "And today... he broke up with me..."

Nami patted Winry on the shoulder. "I'm sorry Winry," she said sympathetically. "You deserve better than him, okay?"

"Thank you Nami..." Winry sniffed, "Well I'm all done. Next time you come we might need to do more adjusting because you're growing."

"Curse my tallness," Nami joked. She stood up and stretched out her leg. "Okay, thanks Winry. I'll see you around, 'kay?"

"Okay, bye Nami," Winry smiled and hugged her friend before putting her tools away. Nami turned and walked out of the room, only to bump into someone and fall to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" The person said quickly, "Are you alright?"

Nami grabbed onto the hand stretched out in front of her and pulled herself up.

"I'm fine," she said, brushing herself off.

She looked to see who she had bumped into and blinked. There in front of her stood a tall, blond boy with adorable brown eyes.

He smiled, "That's good." Nami turned to leave but stopped when the boy spoke again. "What's your name? I've never seen you here before."

"Nami Clark, I'm a client of Winry's," she said, turning back around. "I'm also an old friend. You?"

"Alphonse Elric, a friend of Winry's." Al replied.

He wanted to get to know the girl a little more but he didn't know how to. The only girls his age he talked to were Winry and Mikayla and they were more like his sisters than anything.

"Well Alphonse, nice to meet you," Nami smiled slightly. "But I must go, I have someone to go visit. It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, nice meeting you too," Al said. Nami turned and headed downstairs, bidding goodbye to Pinako before leaving.

* * *

[Mikayla]

After asking a few people for directions I finally found Kane's house.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted, "He's not freaking home!"

On the door there was a note that said, 'Sorry, out on a mission. Will be back next week. Pinako leave the bullets on the kitchen table.'

"Well the note is dated from last Wednesday so he should be back tomorrow then." Reena said, pointing at the date.

"So where are we supposed to go for the night?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"I smell Ed."

I gave her a look, "What?"

"As in Ed is coming around the corner."

On cue Ed came around the corner and stopped in his tracks, "Mikayla?"

My jaw screwed shut and I couldn't think of anything to say to him.

"Why are you at Kane's house?" He asked.

Noticing that I wasn't going to reply to him anytime soon Reena answered, "He's going to be Mikayla's trainer, but this note says he won't be back till tomorrow."

"I see…"

"What are you doing here?" Reena asked.

"Pinako asked me to drop off Kane's specially made bullets." Ed replied, unlocking the door to the house.

I wasn't going to go in, but Reena took my hand and tugged me inside. Ed set the box of silver bullets on the kitchen table and turned towards us.

"Are you going to be staying here?" He asked.

"Don't know, since Kane's not here we can't exactly ask." Reena replied.

I continued to look at the ground and I could feel his gaze burning my skin.

"Hey look, a puppy dog!" Reena suddenly shouted, "I'm going to go pet it!"

And with that she left the house…WHAT THE HELL! WHO DOES THAT? My jaw dropped as I watched her run out of sight. I was going to strangle her when I saw her again.

I heard Ed start laughed and I turned to glare at him, "That wasn't funny."

"Well it got you to talk to me didn't it?" He grinned.

"Do you guys mind speak or something?"

"Maybe."

I couldn't help but to give a short laugh before making myself look away from him again, "Well I better get going."

"And go where?"

"Don't worry about it. One night sleeping outside won't kill me or I'll go find an inn."

"The nearest inn is twenty miles away."

Well screw that idea, I guess I'll be sleeping in the corn fields.

"Mikayla I-"

"I have to go find Reena to make sure she didn't hurt herself or something. I'll see you later Ed," I interrupted, turning around and trying to make my escape.

"No, wait!"

I was stopped by arms wrapping around my shoulder and Ed resting his chin on my shoulder. Where did he get off wrapping his arms around me?

"Ed, you've got two seconds to let go of me," I growled.

"Can you give me five?"

"Winry's going to be looking for you, now let me go."

"That's the thing…I broke up with Winry."

I spun out of his arms and looked him in the eyes, "What?"

"Mikayla this morning I broke up with Winry. I was only torturing her and myself because… because I still love you."

I think I stared at him for a good two minutes before stuttering, "What?"

"I still love you. I'm sorry I didn't wait long enough."

I felt all my anger and frustration towards him melt away and I felt as if slowly my heart was healing.

"Would you-"

"Edward, what are you doing in my house with a girl?"

I turned and saw a familiar silver-haired man in his mid-twenties. His violet eyes looked at us curiously.

"Kane?" I questioned, "How did you survive getting attacked by the Blade Children?"

Kane looked at me closer, "Mikayla? Are you the one I have to train?"

"Yes, but you never answer my question."

"Well when you and Ed attacked them I was able to bust myself out. I was severely wounded though so I didn't get far but some girl helped me out." Kane replied.

He then turned to Ed and asked, "Did Pinako send you out to leave me my bullets?"

Ed nodded, "Yeah, she has a customer right now."

"Kane the note on your door said you wouldn't be back till tomorrow." I pointed out.

"Got back early. It was an easy mission, some boarder control stuff." He replied, setting his bag on the floor, "I was hoping to catch some sleep but then you show up out of the blue."

"Well so sorry to ruin your day. Didn't Mustang tell you I was coming?"

"He did, I just forgot."

_Fail._

"Mikayla, the puppy-"

I stopped Reena in her tracks by glaring at her, "Reena, I would suggest you don't talk to me."

"I love you." She grinned, skipping over to me and hugging me around the waist.

Kane tensed up and look from me to her, "She's a-"

"Ex-Blade Child." Reena interrupted, "I'm not here to kill you."

"Putting that to the side," I said, "Kane, I need a place to stay. If needed I can go the twenty miles to the next inn while I train with you-"

"It's fine, you and Reena can stay in the guest room. I need you here early in the morning and you going twenty miles away would put us off schedule." Kane said, going through the box of bullets on the table to make sure all of them were engineered correctly.

"Thanks Kane," I grinned.

"No problem," He glanced at the clock on the wall, "We start at 8:00 am sharp."

He put the bullets down and walked down the hall with this bag.

"If you and Winry broke up where are you staying?" I asked Ed curiously.

Ed grimaced, "Still at Pinako's but only for a little while. I'm like her grandson so she doesn't really want to kick me out though Winry had a lot to say about that."

"I can imagine." I muttered.

Though he broke up with Winry and told me he loved me, I still felt like I couldn't trust him completely. Well, not yet at least. I still loved him; I just wasn't ready to be with him yet…

_I'm so confused…_

"Well, I need to get going. Granny probably needs me to run more errands." Ed said, "I'll see you later."

He leaned down to kiss me but stopped short - looking at me for permission.

_I'm not there yet…_

I leaned in and kissed his cheek, "See you later."

I watched him leave and I felt Reena slap me in the arm asking, "Why didn't you kiss him!"

"I did kiss him." I replied, raising an eye brow.

"No dummy on the lips! I left you purposely in hopes that you would but you didn't!" Reena shouted.

I sighed, "Reena, I'm not there yet."

"What do you mean?"

"I just can't right now. You'll understand when you get older. It's hard to rebound from a two, almost three month break up."

"Do you still love him?"

"Yes Reena, I do."

Reena looked at me for a moment with a look I couldn't read, "Okay… I'm going to go back outside now. I wanna watch the sun set."

I watched her go back outside; wondering what was going through her mind.

_It was almost like I was talking to my own child. Like she was trying to understand why the two people she looked up to the most aren't together._

I picked up our things and set them in the guest room where we would be staying.

_I wonder what type of training he'll have me do. _I wondered, trying to get my mind back on the reason why I was here, _I hope he doesn't ship me off to a random island…_

* * *

Author Corner:

~Hoped you liked it :D

~Hm...I don't think I made any obscure references in this chapter...we might need to change that for next chapter


	5. Chapter 5

**Long Winding Road**

**EdXOC &AlXOC**

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

[Michelle]

I had sunk to a new low - I was going back to Dr. Jethro and his "children".

"You're going to reconsider Miss Kimblee?" He asked.

I scowled and tipped my hat to hide my embarrassment, "I'm bored."

"Well, let me fix that for you. The task that I have given you still stands, but with a slight tweak."

"How so?"

"Because you are in the military so you can get to official documents and anything else I might need. You and your partner-"

"I don't need a partner." I snapped, lifting my hat.

"Once I tell you about him I think you'll reconsider."

The door of the study room opened and a boy around my age walked in. He had shaggy black hair that was pulled into a small rattail in the back and sharp green eyes. He stood a couple of inches taller than me (which doesn't say much because I was five feet) and had a cocky look on his face.

"Hm, this is her? Not very cute and could use new clothes." He muttered.

My face flushed with anger as I shouted, "Shut up! No one asked for your opinion!"

Since I spent most of my time on the road I didn't really care about my looks. My leather pants, black boots, and red camisole were enough for me.

"Zack here knows all about our target. He will be a great asset to the mission and will be able to lead her here," Dr. Jethro explained.

"Selling out your friend?" I asked.

Zack smirked, "She was never my friend."

I shrugged and turned to Dr. Jethro, "When do we start?"

I might hate Zack's guts but he's needed for this mission and I wanted my pay.

"Today," Dr. Jethro replied.

* * *

[Mikayla]

I woke up at 6:45 the next morning and trudged to the bathroom. After getting dressed, I looked through the cabinets until I found a single box of cereal.

"Well it ain't Lucky Charms but I guess I'll live." I muttered.

I turned on the coffee maker so Kane could have his caffeine fix when he woke up while I settled for chai tea. I knew Reena wouldn't be up for a while so I didn't bother fixing her anything. It wasn't until around 7:30 when Kane came into the kitchen ready for the day.

"I'm surprised you're up," Kane said, pouring himself some coffee.

I looked up from the book I was reading, "Why?"

"I heard you're not a morning person."

I shrugged and looked back at my book, "I've gotten use to waking up early over the years."

At eight sharp we went outside into the warm July air and started our training.

"Show me a fighting stance," He said, putting down his mug of coffee (which was his second helping, might I add).

I spread my feet apart and put my arms up.

"Weak." He muttered. He walked next to me and shoved me hard so that I fell over.

"Ow! What was that for?" I demanded, standing back up and dusting off my pants.

As an answer he brought his leg up to kick me. I barely had time to bring my arms up to block, causing me to roll back on the ground. I quickly got back on my feet.

_I think the coffee got to his brain._

He charged towards me again but this time I was ready. I clapped my hands and put up a barrier only to have it shot down. I rolled out of the cloud of smoke coughing.

"How did you do that?" I coughed, getting back to my feet.

He brought up his hand and I saw that he held a silver gun. Engraved on the side of it was: Kane Grandich the Silver Bullet Alchemist.

"When I shoot this gun I can control how much fire the bullet will produce," Kane explained.

"So that's why you have them specially made?"

"Exactly."

Kane apparently heard something I didn't because he turned so he was looking down the dirt path that led up to his house. At first I only saw the top of someone's black hair, but as they walked up the hill I noticed it was Nami.

"Nami?" I questioned.

"I thought I saw smoke," She muttered.

"Oh, you saw this." Kane said, shooting off a bullet to the side.

When the bullet left the barrel a small fire erupted and smoke spilled out, "Sorry if it scared you."

Nami narrowed her eyes and replayed the gun shot over in her head. "Are you Kane?"

"Yes, what do you need?"

"Flame alchemy," she replied. "Can you teach me and show me how to control it?"

Kane looked at her for a moment as if remembering something. What he was remembering I wasn't sure.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Nami Clark."

"You're the girl from two years ago," Kane said, "You saved me from bleeding to death."

Nami blinked and examined him before grinning. "I remember now!"

Kane smiled slightly, "Well I guess I need to pay you back for that."

He put his gun in his holster and gestured for us to go back a few feet.

"What do we do?" I called to him.

My answer was him charging towards us.

_Not again…_

We spent the next four hour training in hand to hand combat. It was fun but exhausting. By this time Reena had woken up and was sitting on the porch watching us.

"I think that's enough for today." Kane replied, wiping his forehead with the collar of his shirt, "Good job for your first day."

"Thanks," Nami and I sat in unison.

"Well meet again at 8 sharp tomorrow. We'll talk more about fire alchemy tomorrow Nami." Kane said before going back into the house for a shower.

"I feel so gross," I muttered, putting my hair in a messy bun. _Though this is not the first time I've felt incredibly gross._

Nami shrugged. "You get used to it," she turned and started towards the hill, calling over her shoulder, "See you tomorrow!"

"See ya."

I walked over to Reena and sat next to her on the porch.

"Is Ed coming over today?" She asked.

I shrugged, "Dunno, I'm focusing on my training."

A few minutes went by and Kane walked back out the house.

"I'm going to go get some food," He stated.

"Okay."

I took a quick shower and pulled on my Chicago Bear's jersey and black shorts.

"I'm bored~" Reena sang, crashing next to me on my bed.

"That sounds like a personal problem." I yawned, "Go visit Al or something."

"That's a good idea!" She smiled, running out the house.

_Nap time…_

Poke.

_What is this nonsense?_

Poke.

_Whoever the hell is poking me needs to stop._

Poke. Poke.

"Stop…" I groaned, turning onto my back.

The person then poked my stomach.

"I told you to stop!" I shouted, blindly kicking out my leg.

"Ow! Damn it Mikayla!"

I opened my eyes and sat up to see Ed. "Hey Ed, why are you on the ground?"

Ed sat up rubbing his head - glaring at me viciously, "Why do you think?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, I remember someone poking me and then I kicked my leg out - it was you!"

Ed chuckled and stood up, "Took you long enough."

I rolled out of bed and stretched, "Is Reena at Pinako's?"

"She went into town with Al to help him go grocery shopping for Pinako." He replied.

"I see." I murmured, "Well, I guess we should go meet up with them."

"Well they might be back by now, why don't we head over there?" Ed asked.

"Probably because your ex-girlfriend is over there."

Ed sighed, "She probably left for Rush Valley by now."

"Oh," I said, "I hate to ask this but… did you let her off easy?"

"I'd like to say I did. I told her that I still thought of her as one of my childhood friends and the best mechanic ever. I just couldn't be with her the way she wanted to be with me." Ed replied, "She said she understood but it still hurt. She's still going to be my mechanic."

I decided to go back to Pinako's with him to pick up Reena who was happily helping with dinner - which was chicken and mashed potatoes.

"Are you joining us for dinner Mikayla?" Pinako asked.

"Only if it's not any trouble." I replied with a smile.

"Of course not!"

We sat down and had a nice dinner, afterwards Ed walked Reena and I home.

"Bye Ed!" Reena grinned before going back into Kane's house.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Ed asked.

"Training," I replied, "Probably till noon but possibly longer than that."

"Come over to Pinako's when you're done, okay?"

I nodded, "Sure."

He smiled and kissed my forehead before walking back down the dirt path.

* * *

[Michelle]

"How much longer are you going to take?" Zack asked, poking his head back into the records room.

We had made our way to Central Command and knocked out some of the guards that were there.

"Shut up and keep guard." I snapped.

He grumbled something under his breath before getting back to work.

_Let's see Mikayla, Mikayla, here! Mikayla the Silver Katana Alchemist._

I pulled out her file and ran my finger down the document.

_Risembool, eh? This is gonna be easy._

I snapped the manila folder shut and placed it under my arm.

"Let's get going Zack." I said, casually walking out of the records room.

"Where are we headed?" He asked.

"Risembool."

* * *

Author Corner:

~How was that? :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC & AlxOC**

Edited: 8/3/12

* * *

"Let's see, we have to go to Grandich's house... this'll be easy because I've been there before." Michelle said as she and Zack stepped off the train.

Michelle and Zack headed down the path until they came to a fork in the road.

"Am I going to lure Mikayla out of the house and then you'll get her?" Zack asked, as they went down one of the paths.

"Yep, this will be so easy," Michelle replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nami walked the path towards the fork in the road where she would turn to go to Kane's for more training. She tried her best to hide her excitement. She was finally going to be able to learn flame alchemy after all these years! Well, learn it _well. _She kept walking, but stopped when she saw two suspicious figures walking down the path towards her. She kept her hands at the ready as she slowly approached them, hoping to walk right by them.

"Yeah, then I can get my pay," Zack smirked. He went to turn down another path and bumped into someone. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" He snapped at the girl.

"Excuse me?" Nami asked, looking offended. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Whatever, just keep out of the way," He glared.

"Come on Zack let's just go get our mission down." Michelle said, pulling him by the arm down the path towards the only house that was down there.

Nami wondered where they were going. Her friend's house was the only house that way, Kane's house was down the other road.

_Oh well_, she thought, reaching the end of the path and heading towards Kane's house. Having arrived a bit early, Nami knocked on the door and hoped Kane was already up.

"Hello Nami," Kane greeted, stepping outside with his coffee.

"Take a seat on the steps and we'll begin."

Nami nodded and took a seat, fiddling with the sleeve of her hood. Her excitement was now replaced with nervousness. What if he thought she wasn't good enough to teach? Or that she was hopeless and couldn't learn?

"Now, let me go over the basics..." Kane began, opening up a book and explaining things to Nami. She knew most of this, but a little refreshment couldn't hurt.

* * *

Michelle growled angrily as they (her and Zack) walked back up the path, "I can't believe that was the wrong house."

"Guess you don't know this area as well as you thought," Zack said, earning himself a slap on the back of his head. They asked a random person for directions and were pointed in the right direction.

"Alright, let's get this started," she muttered, heading up the correct path.

After only a few minutes of Kane explaining things, Nami caught sight of the two from earlier. Kane saw her staring and turned to also see the two figures.

Mikayla came into the room ready for the days training, "Morning." She looked at what the two were looking at and squinted her eyes, "Zack?" She walked out of house and walked closer.

Zack smiled and walked over to her, "Hey, Kayla."

"What are you doing out here Zack?" She asked, "Do you need medicine again?"

Zack shook his head as Michelle walked closer to them. "No, Michelle and I just wanted to talk to you. Are you busy?"

"Well... I have training soon. Can it wait until after?" She asked.

"No, come on it's important." Zack said, taking her hand and pulling lightly.

"You can go Mikayla, I need to talk to Nami anyways," Kane called before turning back to Nami. "Anyways, as I was saying. Mustang uses special gloves that help him control the elements in the air."

"Oh, I see," Nami nodded.

"But it takes more than just snapping your fingers?"

"Yes, you need to know what chemicals to change so you can control the fire."

"How long does it take to do that?"

"Well, to perform it? A few seconds."

"And to learn it?" Nami asked.

"Years."

* * *

"Where are we going Zack?" Mikayla asked, as she continued to let Zack pull her along. Zack stopped and gave her a smirk, "A place you've been before."

"Wha-?" She was struck in the neck at a pressure point and knocked out cold.

"Well, there we go." Michelle smirked as Zack lifted Mikayla over his shoulder. They made their way to the train station to sneak on to the next train.

* * *

Nami and Kane continued to talk and Nami was surprised to learn that Kane knew a lot about flame alchemy.

"Hey, where's Mikayla?" Kane said, standing up. "She needs to hurry back for training."

"I'm not sure," Nami said, standing up also. "Until then, should I just do the usual routine?"

Kane nodded. "Yes, go ahead."

* * *

[Mikayla]

I woke up in a dimly lit room that seemed to have many surgical tools lined against the wall.

_The hell? _I thought, trying to move. I found this impossible because I was tied down to a table and brute force wasn't going to get me out.

"Oh, you're up."

I froze, "Zack?"

I turned my head and saw my friend walking closer to me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"He works for me."

I glared over in the direction of the new voice. "Dr. Jethro, you just don't know when to give up do you? Look, I'm not going to open the Gate for you."

"You really don't have a choice, dear." The old man smirked.

The girl I remembered from earlier walked into the room and over to Dr. Jethro. I think her name was Michelle.

"Dr. Jethro, I'm leaving." She said.

"Alright, I'll call you when I have another mission to offer."

Michelle walked out of the room without saying another word. If I wasn't tied to the God forsaken table that girl would be picking herself off the floor (or dead - either way works).

"Zack, take her to Cell B." Dr. Jethro said before leaving the room.

Zack undid the straps from me and grabbed me roughly by the forearm.

"Zack!" I shouted, shoving him away. "What's your problem?"

"Just come on," He grunted, reaching out to grab me again.

I grabbed his wrist and started twisting it, "Imma ask it again, what's your problem?"

His green eyes glared into mine, full of frustration. This wasn't the same Zack I had healed and befriended.

"What happened to you?" I asked, letting the hurt show through my voice.

He didn't answer me, his face fixed in a scowl.

"Fine then have it your way." I let go of his wrist and started walking towards the door.

"You're not going to leave that easily."

I stopped and gave him a look, "What can you do? Please boy, I can beat your butt any day."

By the look on his face he knew I was right.

"What did I tell you the first time I met you?" I asked.

"I don't know." He replied, crossing his arms.

"Yes you do, don't play dumb. What did I tell you the first time I met you?"

"I told you I don't remember! All I know is you are the enemy!" Zack shouted. "I don't even remember us being friends."

"What?" I asked in shock, "You don't remember?"

"No."

I couldn't tell if he was lying or not, but I was too pissed off to care.

"Well, let me refresh your memory. I told you my trust is easy to gain but even easier to lose." I said, "You lost it."

I felt him stare after me as I walked out of the room and into the hallway. I crept to the entrance of the hideout and made a run for it. Unfortunately for me the hideout was still in the North and it was freezing.

_That was way too easy. _I thought, _I have a feeling they'll be on my tail any second now. Better get out of here fast._

I weaved through the trees until I came to a main road.

"Alright… now what?" I muttered, "Which way is the town?"

Walking aimlessly sucked - especially when it was cold. I hate the cold and being in a tank top wasn't helping though my sweats did keep my legs somewhat warm. It also didn't help that it was dark… very dark.

"Where is an Aperture Science Hand Held Device when you really need one?" I asked myself, "I mean really, I could just portal myself home but noooo my life has to be so darn complicated. Well… it could be worse. I could be a prostitute… or a druggie… yeah that would suck."

This was going to be a long night…

Twelve hours later and I was happy to say I was home. I dragged myself into the quiet house and crashed onto the couch.

"Mikayla? Where were you?" Kane asked, coming over to me. "You missed training to go off with some guy-"

"Kane, give me like an hour." I said exhaustively. "I was kidnapped by my friend, taken to the North, walked through the snow to North City and had to sneak onto a train because I'm broke. I've had a crappy night and I don't need this crap."

His violet eyes looked at my blankly, "Seriously."

"Dude, I got the marks on my arm to prove it." I said, showing him where my arm was bruised from the restraints. "The Blade Children found me again. I originally wasn't going to come back but I couldn't think of anywhere else to go. They probably think I'm in Central though to report to Mustang."

Kane looked at me for a moment before sighing, "I guess you're off the hook. We're going to have to do something about those Blade Children though."

He then reached onto the other chair and through a blanket at me, "Get some sleep you look like crap, Kid."

"I'm not a kid." I glared, wrapping myself in the blanket. "And I don't look that bad!" (I hoped.)

"You are under the age of twenty; you are a kid, Kid." Kane smirked. He then walked out of the living room and to his study - most likely to do some research on the Blade Children.

_Ed's probably having a panic attack, I told him I'd take a walk with him after I was done with my training. Oh well I'm way too tired to care right now. I wish I could go into stasis right now…_

* * *

Author's Corner:

~Hehe Portal references! XD Never played Portal or Portal 2? I would like to suggest you go play it. Best game ever!

~There wasn't any Ed... I should change that next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC &AlxOC**

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

The sun was already setting when Kane and Mikayla stood up.

"We're heading inside," Kane said. "You'll be fine for the next hour?"

Nami nodded and went back to attempting to create a flame. Nami had been working with Kane for a week and had gained some of his trust. He gave her a pair of gloves to practice with and told her to create a flame. She had been trying for almost twenty minutes now and got nothing.

She was just about to give up when she saw a figure approaching the house. She stood up quickly and got into a defensive stance.

* * *

Kane and Mikayla walked back inside to fix dinner. Kane made a simple chicken noddle soup and while it was boiling, Mikayla and Reena were talking about the training and... Ed.

"Really you should try and go visit him some more. You barely speak to him," Reena said as if she was trying to scold Mikayla.

Mikayla shook her head, "I'm here for training. I don't see why you're so hell bent on us hanging out."

Kane ladled the soup into bowls and served the three of them-ignoring their girl talk.

Reena pouted, "I just think you should spend more time with each other, that's all."

"Oh just eat your soup and keep your nose out of my business before I Avada Kedavra you." Mikayla said, rolling her eyes.

Reena scrunched up her nose and said sarcastically, "Yes mother." she then looked confused, "What does Avada Kedavra mean?"

"Don't worry about it," Mikayla said bluntly, "Just know you don't want it to happen to you."

* * *

"You're from the other day," Nami said as she walked closer to the figure, noticing the white hat. "Care to tell me what you want?"

Michelle looked at Nami and remembered she knew nothing about the BC (Blade Children). She was just there to kidnap Mikayla and be on her way but that was going to prove as a challenge. Though she did have that letter to give to her from Scarlett... Hm...

Michelle took the note out of her pocket and held it out towards Nami, "This is a letter from Scarlett."

Nami grabbed it quickly and tucked it away.

"Alright, now why else are you here?" she asked. "Scarlett would have come to find me herself if she needed to tell me something."

_I need to find a way around this girl_, Michelle thought, brown eyes narrowing.

"Scarlett was busy," she said shortly. "She wanted me to deliver the note."

"Okay," Nami said, still keeping an eye on the girl. "Thanks. I guess you can leave now, right?"

She watched the girl nod and head back down the path before going back to what she was doing.

_Since I'm not very good and I don't want to injure myself, I better head to the pond in the back_, Nami thought before heading towards the backyard. She stood near the pond, back turned to the woods.

* * *

Michelle glanced at the wooded area that would loop back around to Kane's house. She made sure Nami wasn't following her before darting into the wooded area that would lead her behind Kane's house.

_Luckily her room is towards the back of the house_. She thought, the house coming into view.

Michelle cursed softly and hid behind a tree when she saw Nami walk to the back.

_I have to get around you again?_ She thought.

As quietly as she could, she crouched down behind some bushes and peered out to see if there were any entrances other than the front door or a window she could go through. She noticed some windows that would lead into the basement but knew that would be too big of a risk since Nami was standing not far away.

_I have a feeling I'm going to have to fight this girl._ She thought warily.

Nami didn't stop trying to create a flame until she heard something behind her.

"Who is it?" she called. After no respond, she shrugged and went back to training.

Michelle decided it would be better to go in through the basement window that was around the front. She darted back through the woods and back towards the front of the house. Her job was to kidnap Mikayla and attempt not to kill anyone in the process. Once she was in front of the house she cautiously made her way to the basement window.

* * *

Nami reach for her bag but paused._ Where is it?_ She wondered. _Oh, around the front where I left it._ She arrived around the front to see Michelle.

"Just a messenger, huh?"

Michelle smirked, "Yeah, among other things. Just go back to your training."

Her hands twitched - ready to get her gloves out of her pocket. She could just use the circles on her hands to make things explode like her late uncle but she preferred gloves because it hurt less.

"If you knew Scarlett well enough, you would know this isn't training," Nami said, clapping her hands together and creating a wall of spikes between Michelle and the house.

Michelle put on her gloves and put her hand on one of the spikes - making in explode into pieces. "Really? Well then I think you should start training because those flames you were making were pathetic."

She touched another spike and made it explode. "Oh and just to tell you, spikes can't stop me. I have a knack of making them explode."

Nami smirked slightly, her darker side coming out. She enjoyed fighting a little too much.

"They were just needed as a distraction," she said before rushing at Michelle, putting her hands together and creating a wall that shoved Michelle farther away from the house. She got close enough to strike but didn't, staying just out of Michelle's arm range.

Michelle's smirk turned sinister. "Hehe I'm going to have fun!"

She clapped her hands and held them out. The air thickened and the spikes all exploded. "Like I said, I have a knack for making them explode."

Michelle made the ground near Nami explode so she could run and get closer to the house. 'I really wish I could just kill her.' She thought.

Nami transmuted a block and used that to jump over the explosions, then doing a somersault before charging at Michelle. She went to attack her but moved at the last minute, appearing on the other side of the girl.

"Kimblee's daughter huh?" Nami raised an eyebrow. "He was a crazy yet skilled alchemist."

"Nope, not his daughter," Michelle said, "His niece."

She held her hands out and put an explosion between her and Nami - pushing them away from each other. She needed to find a way to get around Nami without killing her.

_If I don't get Mikayla I don't get my money!_ She groaned._ But I'm not allowed to kill the girl. Damn I might just need to leave._

Nami jumped back. "Well you aren't that smart I guess," she said, shrugging. "I mean you could have just found a way around me but you put yourself farther from the house and," she paused, "I hear Kane coming."

"Ah yes, but I'm not allowed to kill anyone." Michelle said bluntly. "My version of getting around you is killing you. And good for Kane being home, I heard he's half the reason my uncle is dead so I would gladly kill him."

She looked at the house that was causing her all this trouble. She had enough money to get her through the month and she knew the BC needed her skills so even if she failed they wouldn't kill her.

"Kill him?" Nami asked. "First you'd have to take on two alchemist, then Reena and Mikayla would join. You'd be outnumbered. You might as well leave."

Michelle looked at her blankly, "Do you not understand that I can just make you explode? What do you think my uncle did in the Ishballen war? Made people by the dozen explode! I mean really you, Kane, Reena, and Mikayla could all fight me, be my guest, but I could just make you go boom!"

She shook her head - just noticing how much she wanted to make someone explode. She was very mentally unstable.

"Ah well, I think I'm gonna leave. Have fun cleaning up the have demolished yard."

With that she picked up her white hat that she dropped on the ground and headed up the path towards the train station. _She's on the list,_ she thought, taking out her notebook titled: People to Explode.

* * *

Nami smirked once the girl was gone.

"You can't kill two of us, remember?" she said to the empty space where Michelle was.

She clapped her hands the put them on the ground, turning everything back to normal. She stood up as Kane walked outside.

"I heard something," Kane said. "What happened?"

"Nothing, just practicing," Nami lied, going back to her usual self, "Just practicing."

"How is it coming?"

"Excellent," Nami said. "See?"

She slipped the glove on and snapped her fingers, holding out her palm.

It was a flame.

* * *

Author's Corner:

~Hehe I snuck in a Harry Potter reference. I felt like it was needed.

~So basically after this chapter everything is in 3rd person- sorry for the whole 1st person here and 3rd person over there thing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC & AlxOC**

**Edited: 8/3/12**

* * *

Mikayla sighed heavily over the phone. It was too early to deal with her cocky boss. "Seriously?"

"Yes Silver Katana, I'm very serious. You and Fullmetal are to head west and shut down that laboratory," Roy said. She could almost hear him smirking over the phone. "Think of it as a training mission."

Mikayla rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever. I'll make sure to tell Ed."

She wrote down the details of the mission on a piece of paper before hanging up.

"Great, just fantastic!" she muttered, slumping down in the kitchen chair.

With a yawn, she headed to her room, passing Kane as he headed to the kitchen for his morning coffee so he could stay awake while he trained her and Nami, and started to pack up - careful not to wake Reena.

She stepped out of her room with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She smiled at Nami who had just arrived before turning her attention to Kane.

"Sorry Kane I can't train today... or for a while. Mustang just called and he has a mission for Ed and me," Mikayla sighed, bending down to tie her shoes.

Kane nodded, "Ah, I see. Well don't get yourself killed. Are you taking Reena?"

Mikayla rolled her eyes, "Thank you for your concern and no I'm not. I don't feel like waking her up, because she'll be grumpy so I'll leave her here. I left her a note so if she wants to meet me where I am, she can."

Mikayla left the house and headed to Pinako's house where she knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Hello Mikayla, you're here early," Pinako greeted.

Mikayla smiled politely, "Yeah, I was wondering if Ed was up."

Pinako shook her head, "No, but you can go wake him."

Mikayla nodded and headed to Ed's bedroom - suddenly feeling giddy. When she pushed opened the wooden door she found the blonde spread across the bed on his back - his hair loose and his bangs spread everywhere. She shook her head as she heard him snore loudly and scratch his stomach.

_Why are you so adorable?_ She wondered to herself.

She placed her duffel bag on the floor before advancing towards the bed.

"Ed you need to wake up," she said, placing her hands on his shoulders and shaking him lightly.

He groaned and turned to his side to face away from her. "Five more minutes."

She shook her head and yanked the covers away from him - revealing that he was only in a grey t-shirt and white boxers. She felt her face burn as she shook his shoulders again.

"Get up, we have a mission." She said.

He turned towards her - golden eyes half-open as he grumbled, "Fine. We can talk after I shower."

She nodded; quickly grabbing her duffel bag as she almost sprinted out of the room, trying to squash the image of him in his boxers out of her head.

* * *

[Ten Minutes Before]

Nami had been awake for a while, staring at the envelope Michelle had given her. Should she open it just yet? She shook her head and sighed, slipping the envelope under her pillow and getting dressed for the day. She grabbed her gloves and slipped on her shoes before leaving.

Nami arrived at Kane's in a few minutes and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a dressed and awake Kane.

"Morning Nami," he greeted, letting her inside.

"Morning Kane," she said, entering the house. She nodded to Mikayla and took a seat at the kitchen table where she usually waited until it was time to begin training. It was a few minutes before she heard the door close and Kane come in the kitchen.

"Are you ready?" he asked. "We have a long day."

Nami nodded, standing up. "Let's go."

The two of them arrived in the backyard. Nami stood in front of Kane while he sipped his coffee, watching her.

"Alright," Kane began. "You are going to work on your control."

She nodded.

"Control is the key to any form of alchemy, especially flame alchemy. If you can't control the flames, you will never be a flame alchemist," he continued. "I want you to create a flame, and do each one of these tasks I'm about to give you, never letting the flame go out."

"How many tasks are there?" Nami asked.

"Very few," Kane answered. "I will test your intelligence later. For now, control. And," he pulled out a piece of paper, "this is your task list. Good luck, you have four hours."

Nami took the sheet and nodded, watching Kane disappear into the house. She turned away from the house and snapped her fingers, creating a small flame. She looked at the first task on the list. She blinked. It was a workout circuit for the most part.

She ran her mile and did the sit-ups and push-ups - luckily the flame never went out - and gathered firewood. Finally, she looked at the last item on the list.

_Go give the firewood to Pinako._

"Really Kane? Really?" Nami muttered, grabbing some firewood before starting off to Pinako's house.

* * *

[Meanwhile]

The two teens arrived in a small town out west called Rothen. They decided to relax for a bit and devise a plan, before going out to the laboratory.

"I think we need to do more research on this laboratory," Ed suggested, plopping down on the couch in the hotel room.

"Yeah, Mustang didn't really tell us much about the place. He just told us that they were going against policy and that we need to shut it down." Mikayla said, placing her bag on the bed that she had claimed.

She wished she could have had her own room, but Ed insisted that they share a room to save money. She wasn't worried about him trying anything... it was just awkward.

"We need to actually go in and find out what we're walking into," Ed muttered, going into though.

Mikayla looked up at the ceiling for a moment in though before smirking, "Dude I totally got a plan~"

Mikayla and Ed innocently strolled into the forested area outside the town. The plan was to either:

1. Act like students doing a report and ask for information on the base. Or,

2. If number one doesn't work then they would just sneak in.

They walked up to the eerie looking building and were stopped at the gate by two guards dressed in blue military uniforms.

"What are you two kids doing here?" One of them demanded.

Mikayla twitched at the term 'kids' but let it slide. "We're here to collect some information for our school science project. We wanted to know what the laboratory does."

The two guards gave them a hard look while the teens gave them innocent smiles before being let through.

"I can't believe that worked," Mikayla muttered.

"Me neither," Ed whispered back.

* * *

Nami arrived at Pinako's and set the firewood with the rest. She knocked on the door to let Pinako know she had brought some wood, and was surprised to see Al answer the door. She remembered the last time they met and rubbed the back of her head.

"Um, Alphonse," she greeted. "Is Pinako here?"

"Yeah, come on in," he said, smiling and opening the door. Nami stepped inside, careful to keep the flame alive.

"Where is she?" she asked, looking around.

"Upstairs, but she'll be down in a second," Al answered. "What are you doing here?"

"Kane sent me on some errands, and I have to keep this flame alive," Nami said, gesturing to the flame. "It sort of sucks."

Al chuckled and at that moment Pinako entered the room and engaged in a conversation with Nami. He turned and headed upstairs, taking one last glance at Nami before disappearing from their sight.

Kane sat the kitchen table as he looked over a document that he just got in the mail. According to Roy, Amestris and Areguro were currently in a state of disagreement over political views and natural resources and a war might be started because of it. Kane knew that the Areguro was a strong nation but he also knew that his country was too especially, with Xing as its ally.

_If a war starts, then all alchemist must join the battle._ He thought wearily. _The last time I fought was in the War of Ishbal... I really don't want to repeat that..._

"Alright, I better go," Nami said. She had been chatting with Pinako and it was getting late.

"Alright, thank you for the firewood," Pinako nodded. "Tell Kane I said hello."

"I will, bye Pinako," Nami turned and left, heading back down the road, flame in hand.

Al appeared a moment later. "Where's Nami?" he asked.

"She just left."

"Oh. Alright."

Nami arrived back at Kane's just before her time was up. She walked up to Kane who was sitting on the stairs in front of the house.

"All done," she said. Kane looked up.

"Well done," he nodded. "I didn't expect you to do that so easily."

"I had some difficulty," she lied. She then noticed his troubled expression. "Is something wrong?"

To Kane, Nami was a civilian. He would not and could not tell her about an impending war. He stood up and stretched on his arms. "Nah, nothing just a little tired. While you were gone I trained Reena and boy does that child have a lot of energy."

Nami nodded. "Then I'll be heading home now."

"Alright, dismissed."

She turned around and headed towards where she was staying. Once she was out of sight, she shook her head. She highly doubted he was telling the truth, but she wouldn't dig up any dirt just yet.

* * *

Mikayla and Ed were able to tour only certain parts of the laboratory - the front lobby.

"Why can't we see more?" Mikayla asked curiously.

The director - Roger Bens - frowned at her, "Because this is a military base. This is no place for children to be."

"Sir, I'm not child." Mikayla said, trying not to glare at the man. "I will understand anything you tell me about this base."

Roger scowled, "You two should leave."

Ed and Mikayla exchanged knowing looks.

"Um, I need to use the restroom. Is it okay if I use it before I leave?" Mikayla asked.

Roger rolled his eyes and gestured down the hall, "Fine."

Mikayla smiled and trotted down the hall. When she was sure no one was following, she continued passed the bathroom and tried to get a feel of the layout of the base. So far she wasn't having any trouble.

"Staff only, huh?" She muttered, looking at the sign that hung on the mental door.

"What are you doing here?"

Mikayla spun around and came face to face with a young scientist - according to his name tag, his name was Joshua.

"I-I got lost on the way to the bathroom," Mikayla said quickly.

Joshua glanced at the metal door behind her before returning his piercing green eyes to study her. "You should go."

Mikayla mock saluted, "Will do!"

She then power-walked down the hall and back to the lobby. The two teen left the base and waited until they were a safe distance away to talk.

"I think I know where their hiding all their secrets." Mikayla said, "We'll have to sneak into the base if we want to take a look."

Ed nodded, "We'll go late tonight."

It was around midnight when Ed and Mikayla sneaked back to the military laboratory.

"How are we getting in?" Ed whispered, his eyes watching the guards patrol the area behind the bush they were hiding in.

"Hmm," Mikayla muttered, eyes roaming the area around them until she found a vent. "That vent. It amazingly looks big enough for us to get into."

The two eventually timed it just right so when the guards' backs were turned, they sprinted towards the barbed wire fence - making sure to keep out of the light from the guard tower. They found a hole in the wire that was tight to get through but they managed it.

"I'll boost you to the vent," Ed said.

Mikayla nodded and once she was leveled with the vent she used alchemy to remove the bars on it. She grabbed his hand once she was comfortably inside (if you can even get comfortable in a vent) and heaved him up.

"Dude, you're heavy!" she grunted.

"Oh shut up," he grumbled once he was inside.

It took a while for them to navigate the vent system but they somehow managed to get behind the metal door Mikayla had found earlier. She kicked open the vent bars and quickly dropped down into the empty room, Ed following close behind.

"What is that?" Mikayla muttered, peering into a cage. The creature was small and chubby. It had the features of a dog and several different animals- it was hideous.

"Chimeras," Ed whispered, clutching his fist. "This base was going against the code and creating chimeras..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC &AlxOC**

* * *

**Apologies**** for the horribly long wait! Temari and I finally buckled down and got this chapter out and hopefully will be able to get one more out before school starts all over again- ENJOY!**

* * *

Ed moved over to a desk where various papers were scattered around. He skimmed over a few, trying to understand what the base was planning on doing with these chimeras. Mikayla peered into more of the cages, her stomach twisting as she looked at each tortured being.

It was silent until they heard they heard the dull sound of heels clicking from down the hall. They quickly hoisted themselves through the vent they came through and didn't talk or look back until they were safely out and away from the base.

"What did you find?" Mikayla asked on they were back at the hotel.

"Nothing much," Ed replied, slightly frustrated. "Just notes of each chimera - nothing of their plans."

Mikayla sighed, flopping down onto her bed. "We'll go back tomorrow night and uncover everything."

* * *

It was well past midnight and Nami couldn't sleep. She sat on the bed in the guest room she was staying in. An old best friend of hers, Ryu, lived in Risembool and they had grown up together. He offered to let her stay with him and his parents while she was training.

She stared down at the note in her hand from Scarlett – the girl she was working for – for the second night in a row. She didn't know much about her, but she owed Scarlett greatly. She taught her the basics of flame alchemy and how to create it. In return, Nami had to do some… observing.

Ripping open the letter, she scanned the contents.

_Nami,_

_I applaud you for finding Kane since he is training Mikayla. I figured Mustang would reject you, but you seem to be one step ahead. Continue observing her and being their friend, we need all the information we can get._

_You owe me, so don't screw up. Michelle,_ _the girl who delivered the message, is on our side, but just pretend she is the enemy._

_-Scarlett._

What did she mean by "our side"? It didn't matter, time was running out. She had worked so hard to get to where she was, and the plan was slowly coming to the end.

But something always plagued her… what was the end?

Nami woke up the next morning and went through her daily routine of showering, doing her hair, getting dressed, etc. She walked downstairs and smiled when she saw Ryu sitting at the dinner table.

"Morning Nami," he greeted, glancing up from the paper he was reading.

"Morning," she replied, grabbing a piece of toast.

Ryu was about five feet, ten inches with shaggy brown hair, a lean body, and blue eyes. He was smart, dorky, and knew how to brighten up the atmosphere. They had met when Nami used to live in Risembool, before she was sought out by Scarlett.

"Do you have training with Kane?" He asked.

"Yeah, I better get going, see you for dinner."

Nami grabbed her bag which was by the door and slipped on her grey tennis shoes before heading down the road to Kane's.

Nami arrived at Kane's house and knocked on the door. She could feel the sweat already beginning to form on her body. It was too hot and she was dressed in black shorts and a purple tank top.

"Good morning Nami," Kane greeted once he opened the door.

"Morning Kane," she greeted back, stepping aside to let him out. He stepped out and took a sip of his coffee.

"Same routine as yesterday, but no need to go to Pinako's today."

"Sounds good."

* * *

Late that night, Mikayla and Ed sneaked their way back into the base with a plan: uncover what the chimeras were to be used for then report to Mustang with their findings so he could then go in and shut it down. It seemed like a solid plan.

The two silently shuffled through the papers in the dark, only small flashlights illuminated the table.

"Look," Mikayla whispered, pulling a document out from a folder. She pointed to the emblem that was stamped onto the paper. "This is the work of the Blade Children."

Ed's eyes narrowed in thought. "What could they possibly want with chimeras?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The lights flickered on as the two alchemist whipped around to see who had caught them. A girl, at least 18, with medium dark skin and curly brown hair stood at the doorway, hazel eyes glaring at the two. She wore a simple white shirt with slacks and a black jacket worn over her shoulders. "I had a feeling you two would be back."

_She looks so familiar, _Mikayla thought, staring at the girl intently. _It couldn't be-!_

"Lynelle?"

The girl blinked, head tilted slightly in confusion. "Mikayla?"

Ed glanced between the two girls, wondering what was going on. He let himself relax slightly since he felt this girl was no threat to either of them. "You know her, Mikayla?"

"Lyn, what are you doing here?" Mikayla asked, ignoring Ed's question. She was more concerned that one of her good friend's was here in a place she should of no business being in.

Lynelle sighed, eyes softening as she stepped closer to her friend. "I could ask you the same thing! This place is in totally different dimension!"

"Wait, if you're here that means you've seen the Gate," Mikayla said, worry filling her heart. "Are you okay, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Lynelle replied. "I did see what you call the Gate, but the memory is hazy and I really don't remember anything of what happened before I saw it other then I heard my mom screaming." She sighed, sitting down at the desk, gesturing Mikayla and Ed to sit down as well.

"When I woke up there was a girl who was really hurt and was looking at me like I had just kicked her puppy and she was all bloody, but I passed out again before I could ask questions. Then a few days later some guy named Dr. Jethro began training me and teaching me alchemy. Seeing as I'm pretty good with science and medical alchemy he stuck me here in this town so I could over see this base. He somehow got one of the officials that own this base to sell him half of it."

"What are the chimeras being used for?" Ed questioned.

"War," Lynelle replied. "Aerugo is paying Jethro to create them."

"Interesting," Mikayla couldn't help but mutter. "Lynelle what would happen if we brought this to Central Command's attention? What would happen to you if we shut down this base?"

"Well, Dr. Jethro would lose his share of the profit from this place, but he probably won't care too much because he's perfected the art of creating chimeras," Her nose crinkled up in disdain. "I hate watching those things being made; I have to sit and take notes - it's horrid." She then got back on track, "But nothing would happen to me - at least I don't think."

Mikayla was worried about her friend's safety, but knew she needed to complete this mission. She glanced at Ed who smiled slightly, letting her know that he knew what she was thinking.

"Lyn, come with us and we'll keep you safe," She said.

Lynelle paled slightly, "But, then you'd be in danger!"

Mikayla chuckled lightly, "I can take care of myself. I'm used to being in danger."

Lynelle frowned; "If you're sure…" she then shuffled up the papers and put them in an envelope. "You can show them to Central Command." She then turned to Ed, "Can I mention that it's awesome to finally meet the guy Mikayla obsessed over for a good three years? And the fact that she's working with him is icing on the cake," Lynelle smirked at her friend. "Good job Mikayla."

Mikayla rolled her eyes, taking the envelope while Ed didn't know how to take what Lynelle just said to him. The two then helped Lynelle through the vent (there were other scientists around the base working late) and led her to the hotel they were staying at (but stopped at her small apartment first to get her clothes).

While Lynelle took a shower, Ed called Roy to tell him about their findings (he was not happy to be called so late at night).

"Well at least we got all of that wrapped up," Ed commented as got off his call with Roy.

"Yeah," Mikayla replied, toying with the ends of her hair in thought. "But, it makes me wonder how many other plots he has in his sick head. I'm worried what he's planning next." She frowned, "And how many other people from my time he'll drag into his schemes."

Ed said the only thing he knew to say, "I'm sure everything will be fine, I mean how many other people could he possibly get to open the Gate for him? Probably not many."

Mikayla smiled lightly, wanting to believe what he said. "Yeah, I guess."

But that night, when the lights were out and she lied beside Lynelle unable to sleep, she could only think: _It's only a matter of time before one of his plans works and all hell breaks loose._


	10. Chapter 10

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC &AlxOC**

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**Yep, a remarkably fast update. ENJOY!**

* * *

Mikayla stepped off the train, stretching her arms above her head. "That was the longest train ride of my life."

Lynelle laughed. "You were never a huge fan of trains to begin with."

"Nope," Mikayla said, readjusting the straps of her duffel bag. "Let's head back to Kane's I'm beat."

"I'll walk you guys there," Ed said.

The three made their way down the dirt path towards the older alchemist home. As the house came into view, Mikayla spotted her training partner lying on the ground.

She smiled and shouted out, "Hey Nami!"

Nami sat up, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She saw Mikayla, Ed, and another girl approaching in the distance.

"Hey Mikayla!" She shouted back, smiling. She stood up and stretched, arching her back.

Lynelle felt herself freeze up a bit, trying to figure out why this girl looked so familiar. She glanced at Mikayla and Ed - wondering if they felt the same nervousness she felt, but wasn't surprised when she found they were totally comfortable with the girl.

She tried to force a smile as Mikayla introduced her, saying: "Nami this is my friend Lynelle who, granted Kane lets her, will be staying here for a while. Lyn this is Nami - she's being trained alongside of me by Kane."

Lynelle kept the same shaky smile, "Nice to meet you."

Nami paused for a split second and took in the girl. She knew this girl, she knew her _somehow_. Is she the girl from... no, she couldn't be.

"As Mikayla said, I'm Nami, it's nice to meet you too," Nami said, smiling.

Lynelle let herself relax, trying to convince herself she was wrong about Nami and deciding to let that flame of sudden hatred and anger go. Suddenly, the front door flew open and Reena came running out - latching onto Mikayla's waist.

"I missed you!" She shouted, glaring up at the older girl. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because I didn't feel like dealing with your attitude," Mikayla smiled, ruffling Reena's black hair. "And I missed you too."

Reena let go of Mikayla, flashing Ed a smile before looking at Lynelle in confusion. Mikayla quickly got the introductions over with before asking about where Kane was.

"Kane saw you guys out of the window and said he was going to make a phone call before coming out," Reena replied. "I think he's calling Ms. Pinako."

"It's dinner time soon; maybe they were planning a dinner or something?" Nami suggested. "Or maybe he just needs Winry to make more stuff for him."

"Maybe," Mikayla replied. She headed inside, Lynelle following close behind her while Reena lingered behind to annoy Ed. Mikayla found Kane hanging up the phone as she walking into the kitchen. "I'm back! Did ya miss me?"

Kane rolled his eyes, "Nope, not at all."

"Hey!"

Kane smiled, "Whatever." He then inquired about Lynelle and Mikayla told him the short version of why she was here: Lynelle was a friend who needed a home after a tragic accident consisting of her home catching on fire; she found this easier than telling him Lynelle had ties to the Blade Children.

With a sigh he agreed to let the girl stay. He then went on to say, "Pinako wants to invite us over for dinner to celebrate you and Ed's mission. I'm sure she won't mind that Lynelle comes."

"Awesome," Mikayla grinned. "Free food!"

The three then walked outside to tell the others the plan- Reena, Ed, and Nami all turning to see the trio approaching them.

"So what did Pinako say?" Ed asked.

"She invited us all over for dinner to celebrate you and Mikayla's mission success," Kane answered. He looked at Nami. "She invited you too."

Nami smiled, "Awesome."

The group headed down the path to the Rockbell residence soon after getting word of the dinner party (once everyone had freshened up). The elderly woman greeted them when they arrived - happily introducing herself to Lynelle who smiled at the warm greeting. She was then introduced to Winry who came down the steps moments after the group walked inside. Lynelle could sense the tension between Winry and Mikayla who both purposefully put distance between themselves, but made chose to ask questions later.

"Dinner is ready!" Pinako called from the kitchen.

"Yay!" Reena cheered, running in front of the teens and adults to claim her plate first.

Nami sat down at the table across from Mikayla and in between Al and Kane. Pinako say next to Kane at the head of the table and Winry sat on the other end next to Ed and Al.

"So how was the mission?" Pinako asked, smiling. "If you can't tell me much, I understand."

Winry did not like the thought of Ed and Mikayla on a mission together; it made her stomach twist.

Ed and Mikayla exchanged knowing glances; trying to come to a silent agreement on what to say.

"We can't say much," Ed replied, giving an apologetic smile. "But, it was a research mission - it went pretty smoothly actually."

"That's good to hear," Pinako replied. "I'm glad you both came back unharmed."

They both smiled, both equally as glad to be back home. It was then that Reena's shoulders suddenly quivered, dropping her spoon onto the floor. Mikayla's smiled morphed into a worried frown, looking over at the girl who sat on the other side of Lynelle - next to Pinako.

"You okay, Reena? You look a bit pale."

Reena forced a smile, picking up her spoon again. "I'm fine, just a chill went up my spine."

"Are you sure you're not getting sick?" Pinako asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, really!" Reena reassured. _But, what the heck was that feeling?_

Nami raised an eyebrow but continued eating. Everyone was acting strange - that Lynelle girl obviously recognized her and Reena's gone pale

_I wonder what's going on, _she thought.

Directing the conversation somewhere happier, Winry turned to Nami.

"How's your leg holding up?"

Nami smiled, "It's great, you're the best mechanic I know."

Winry grinned. "Thanks! So are you staying with Kane too?"

Nami took a sip of her water and shook her head, "No, I'm staying with Ryu since Kane's house is a bit full, and I don't want to intrude."

Al didn't know how to react to the piece of information Nami had just shared.

_I wonder if Ryu is her boyfriend._ He continued eating his food as his mind tried to analyze her sentence. He mentally scolded himself seconds later for doing so - it really wasn't any of his business. Besides, he had only talked her a few times and wasn't really friends with her in the first place - just a friend of a friend (though he won't mind being her friend).

Mikayla had to hold back a laugh as she watched Al try to preoccupy himself by eating. Call it sisterly-intuition, but she had a feeling that Al had some sort of interest in Nami.

_Aw, so cute._ She would have to mention to him to walk her home after dinner.

"So how is training Mikayla? Nami?" Pinako asked.

"Great, I'm learning a lot," Nami answered before taking a sip of water.

Good," Mikayla answered, placing her fork down beside her empty plate. "I guess you have a good teacher if you crash every night after a day of training."

Kane's held an indifferent face, taking a sip of water, but internally he was happy that his students were improving through his teachings. He knew they would both be highly skilled and respected alchemist once he was through with them.

Pinako smiled, "That's good to know. I was worried he was killing you two girls over there with his harsh training."

"They're not that bad actually," Mikayla replied. "They're getting easier."

"Easier?" Kane said, raising an eyebrow. "Guess I'll have to up the difficulty, huh?"

Mikayla groaned, wishing she hadn't said anything. "Great..."

"Thanks Mikayla..." Nami glared playfully.

* * *

Once everyone finished up their plates, Mikayla insisted on doing the dishes for Pinako, telling the elderly woman to go relax and prop her feet up. She noticed Ed trying to sneak out of the kitchen so he wouldn't have to help and dragged him back by his braid - telling him to help dry and put away the dishes.

Kane thanked Pinako for the meal and announced he had some work he needed to attend to at home. Reena trotted back with him, her full stomach making her sleepy and she didn't feel like waiting around for Mikayla. Lynelle decided to stick around to wait for Mikayla, and in the meantime Winry sat next to her on the couch and struck up a conversation.

Winry needed a distraction from the pair in the kitchen, but was also wanted to get to know Lynelle. Lynelle thought the blond was nice and didn't know why Mikayla had a problem with her, but knew that there must be a story behind the reason why the two girls refused to speak to each other.

Nami also thanked Pinako for dinner and excused herself outside.

Al sent Mikayla a 'should-I-go-too?-look' before following her out.

Mikayla laughed as she watched Al walk outside after Nami. _Too cute!_

Ed gave her a confused look, "What are you laughing about?"

"Your brother is adorable!" She grinned. "He sooo has a small crush on Nami. It's so cute! I can totally see Nami thinking Al is cute."

Ed couldn't help but roll his eyes, not understand why she was going on about it, but decided not to make a comment. Lynelle walked into the kitchen for another glass of water when she heard Mikayla talking about Nami.

"Um, Kayla," She began awkwardly. She didn't want to cause any problems between Mikayla and Nami, but she had to know. "How long have you known Nami?"

Mikayla blinked, before pondering on the question. "Uh, a few weeks maybe - not long. Why?"

Lynelle looked uneasy, rushing to her friend's side to whisper: "It's just that... she looks familiar. She looks like the girl I saw when I woke up at the BC's base, but I could be wrong. It's just this nagging feeling that I have..."

Mikayla frowned, worried about her friend and if what she was saying was true. "Well... I dunno..."

Lynelle then sighed, shaking her head. By the look on Mikayla's face she was at a loss of what to say and Lynelle didn't want to put her in an awkward position, especially since she could be wrong about Nami. "Never mind... let's drop it."

"But-"

"Really it's fine... I think I'm just tired and confused," Lynelle cut in.

She wondered back to the living room where Winry sat at a desk, looking over a piece of automail. Lynelle fell back on to the couch to wait for Mikayla to get done with the dishes, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep.

* * *

Nami was leaning again the railing, facing the house.

It was a beautiful evening now that the heat had disappeared and a nice breeze replaced it.

She glanced up when the door opened and smiled at Al.

"Here for some fresh air too?"

Al nodded and smiled, "Yeah, it's nice out."

He walked over next to Nami and leaned against the railing, staring out across Risembool.

"So how has your stay been in Risembool?" Al asked, trying to spark a conversation.

"Very nice, though training is tiring," Nami said. "What about you? I don't think the famous Elric brothers stay in one place for too long."

Al laughed. "Well, you see, this is like home base for us, so we just come back here until we have something to do."

Nami nodded, "Sounds like a legit plan. Are you a state alchemist like your brother?"

"No, but I can do alchemy like he can so I probably could, but he doesn't want me getting hurt," Al explained. "But I can protect myself!"

Nami smiled to herself, thinking of her older brother. "Every brother has his ways."

Before Al could respond, Pinako called to the duo.

"It's getting dark, you better come inside!"

"Alright!" Al called back. He turned towards Nami to see her already heading inside, and followed her.

* * *

[That Night]

Mikayla sighed, glancing over to where Lynelle slept on a cot on the floor and to where Reena slept close to her side - wishing sleep would come for her as well. She groaned as she quietly rolled out of bed, slipping on her socks. Dressed in her sweatpants and tank, she wondered out into the living room in search of a book to read. She was surprised when she spotted Kane reading on the couch.

Kane looked at her and smiled slightly, "Can't sleep either?"

Mikayla shook her head. "I can't relax at all and I don't know why."

Kane folded the corner of the page to save his place before closing the book. "How about we go for a walk?"

Mikayla smiled, "Sure."

They slipped on their shoes and walked into the breezy night air, the stars and the moon illuminating the night sky. They talked quietly about training, alchemy, and their lives in general; nothing too personal, but a nice friendly conversation between student and teacher.

As they were walking, Kane caught a voice. "Stop," he said.

Mikayla stopped and they both crouched, straining their ears.

_"Give me what you have."_

"That's Scarlett," Mikayla hissed.

_"Here it is."_

Mikayla looked at Kane, with eyes wide, whispering: "That voice..."

Kane nodded, keeping himself calm and trying to think about it rationally. "Sounds like Nami."

Mikayla's eyes widened as Kane confirmed her fear. Kane simply stared into the dark where he thought the voices were coming from, thinking: _What the hell is going on?_


	11. Chapter 11

**Long Winding Road**

**EdxOC & AlxOC**

* * *

Nami followed the path towards Kane's house, slipping on her gloves. She was excited to see what today's lesson would be. As she approached the house, she slowed down when she saw Mikayla and Kane waiting for her outside.

"Hey Nami, I gotta question," Mikayla started. She wanted to get right to the point and not wait until the end of training to ask - she had to know now. "Do you by any chance know a woman named Scarlett?"

Nami paused when she was a few feet from them and blinked.

"Scarlett? None that I know of, why?"

Mikayla's eyes narrowed and Kane was slightly worried that she'd spill out every thought in her head at once, but he knew she had self-control. His plan was to go about this rationally and tactfully - too bad the self-control that he thought Mikayla had had failed today.

"Are you sure?" She snapped. She didn't mean to be this horrid to a girl she considered her friend, but the fact that she was lying straight to her face made Mikayla's blood boil and her heart break. "I'm pretty sure I heard you talking to her last night when I was out walking. May I might add that she's one of my sworn enemies and has attempted to kill me at least twice if not more?"

Her face was twisted into a scowl and she looked dead into Nami's eyes, daring her to lie again.

Nami stood up straight, her eyes narrowing.

"No more pretending huh?" She said. "I know Scarlett - and I'm working for her. Why? You'll have to come and get it, but I won't fight you... not yet."

As she spoke, she slowly began walking backwards.

"You've got a lot of nerve," Mikayla growled, clapping her hands to transmute a silver sword.

"Mikayla," Kane said firmly, stopping his student as she raised her weapon. His eyes never left Nami; curious to see if she'd actually try to attack even if she said she wouldn't fight. "Let her go."

Mikayla stared at Nami before scoffing; her emotions being tangled up inside of her until she finally was able to spit out, "Fine."

"I guess this is goodbye for now," Nami said, turning around. "Thanks Kane, you're a good teacher."

With that, she was gone.

* * *

Nami arrived back at Ryu's and went upstairs. She quickly packed her bag and slung it over her shoulders along with her journal she had been using to keep notes (she gave Scarlett the old one).

Scarlett had told her if she was ever caught, to catch a train to the South and head out to rural country where she'd find a hideout.

"Nami?" Ryu asked, knocking on the open door.

Nami spun around. "Hey, I'm sorry, something came up and I have to catch a train out of town."

Ryu frowned. "Why? What happened? What about training?"

"Training is being put on hold," she said, smiling. "Don't worry, everything's fine.

"Alright, come back soon?"

She gave him a quick hug and whispered, "I'll try," before heading out of the room and out the front door.

Once she was a few steps away she broke into a run towards town to catch a train; somehow, she knew that if she stayed, Mikayla would come after her.

_Mikayla,_ Nami thought. _Do not feel guilt Nami, she is the enemy._

After she bought her ticket, she got on the trained and grabbed a window seat; her notebook was still clutched tightly in her hand.

As the train pulled away, Nami took a deep breath and looked out the window. She froze when she saw a pair of brown eyes staring at her but they disappeared in a second.

_Al...?_

* * *

"Let's continue training," Kane said after Nami was gone for a few minutes. "We've got some anger to work out of you."

Mikayla looked at him wearily. "Okay."

As she trained she tried to put her all into it, but she was distracted and hurt, unable to put her full concentration into her training.

_What if she leads them here?_ She couldn't help but think. _Would she do that?_

Noticing how his student wasn't training like she usually does, Kane ended practice much earlier than usual. Though he wanted Mikayla to learn that this is the risks that alchemist took every day, the lines of enemy and friend being blurred daily, he didn't have the heart to push her any further. He wasn't a heartless man, but in a way was desensitized - cutting people off easily when they threatened him or those close to him; Nami just being added to the end of his list.

"I felt like something was going to happen," Reena muttered to the two girls that sat next to her on the porch; Kane was already going off on his own for a long walk. "I didn't know what it was going to be, but I felt it."

Mikayla smiled warily at Lynelle. "Guess you were right about Nami being a part of the BC."

Lynelle sighed, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulder. "It's not like I wanted to be right."

"I know," Mikayla replied. "It just sucks that you tried to tell me and I didn't listen."

"It's fine," Lynelle insisted. "Everything will be fine, you'll see."

On the outside, Mikayla smiled simply to appease her friend and silence her worries; but on the inside she was angry and knew that everything was not going to be fine until the Blade Children were completely written out.

* * *

Author's corner:

~Hope you liked! Reviews would be AWESOME! :D


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